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OTTAWA—A 17-year-old girl has died after receiving a hard hit during a high school rugby game in Ottawa last week.

Rowan Stringer, who attended John McCrae Secondary School and had been accepted into the nursing program at the University of Ottawa this fall, died Sunday night from injuries sustained during a home game May 8.

Her father, Gordon Stringer, described his daughter as a strong athlete who began playing rugby last year after her high school started up a girls’ team, following in the footsteps of an older sister who had played the sport a few years earlier.

“Anything that (her sister) did, Rowan ended up trying too,” said Gordon Stringer, who said his daughter had also played for the Barrhaven Scottish Rugby Club last summer and planned to do so again this year.

He said his daughter was captain of the high school team this year and loved to play the sport, even though it could be rough.

“We have no qualms about the sport or anything. She loved it. We loved going to watch her and everything, but it is a pretty rough sport and she liked that,” said Gordon Stringer, who was not at her final game last week.

“She liked to get in the rough and tumble and she was a pretty good athlete, but she took a pretty hard hit,” he said.

“She was tackled and she hit the ground head first and the report that we got from a couple of her friends that were there that were watching at the time, she hit the ground awkwardly, her head and neck taking the biggest part of the impact and she actually did sit up for they said like one or two seconds, kind of put her hand to the side of her head and then she fell back and was unconscious and she never regained consciousness after that,” Stringer said.

He described his daughter as a best friend and sister who loved life and loved to sing, even if she was not very good at it.

“The poor child couldn’t carry a tune, much like her father, but she just loved to sing. She’d be the loudest one and the most out of tune,” he said.

He also said it was her mission in life to help people, first by going to nursing school, then by working to help children in Africa and then, finally, by signing her health insurance card to indicate she wished to be an organ donor.

“When we made the decision to stop interventions on Saturday, it was very easy for us to transition into going through the process of donating her organs, because that is exactly what she wanted to have done,” Gordon Stringer said.

“She already has, we found out this morning, helped at least six other people and their families, because of her gifts,” he said.

He said her kidneys went to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto, her lungs went to a young woman in Toronto, her pancreas also went to the city and her liver went to London, Ont.

“And her heart stayed here in Ottawa,” said her father, as he began to choke back sobs, “which was nice to hear.”

Her high school issued a statement on its website Monday.

“John McCrae Secondary School is extremely saddened by the loss of a student in our school community. We extend our sincere condolences to the Stringer family and to all the friends of Rowan,” said the statement.

“Our school community is in mourning and together, we will support each other in this time of need. A crisis management team has been put in place to provide assistance, counselling and other support to students and staff to assist them in their healing process,” said the statement.

Sharlene Hunter, a spokeswoman for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, said all sports games at the high school are cancelled Monday and Tuesday.

She said decisions on the rest of the season for high school rugby teams have not yet been decided.

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